Sociology CHAPTER 1
FALSE
T/F A global perspective has little in common with a sociological perspective.
TRUE
T/F A survey is a research method in which subjects respond to a series of statements or questions.
We would expect the sociological perspective to be MOST likely to develop in a place that was
experiencing major social changes.
A theory states that increasing a person's formal higher education leads to increased earnings over the individual's lifetime. In this theory, "higher education" is the
independent variable.
Sociologists use the term "empirical evidence" to refer to
information we can verify with our senses.
If you were trying to measure the "social class" of various people, you would have to keep in mind that
it is necessary to specify exactly what you are measuring.
The recognized and intended consequences of a social pattern are referred to as
manifest functions.
Robert Merton explained that what is functional for one category of a society's population
may be dysfunctional for another category
Thomas Hobbes's idea that society reflects a selfish human nature illustrates the thinking common at which of Comte's historical stages?
metaphysical stage
If you read a study that draws conclusions about all of humanity based on research using only males as subjects, you would correctly point to the problem called
overgeneralization.
By stating that the sociological perspective shows us "the strange in the familiar," the text argues that sociologists
reject the familiar idea that people simply decide how to act in favor of the initially strange idea that society shapes our lives.
Most of today's sociologists agree with Auguste Comte's claim that
science has an important place in sociology.
The main characteristic of the _____ approach is its view of society as being orderly and stable
structural-functional
The _____ approaches are macro-level, describing societies in broad terms.
structural-functional and social-conflict
The theoretical approach in sociology that assumes society is a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability is the
structural-functional approach.
If you were to conduct sociological research that closely follows the logic of science, which research method would you MOST likely use?
the experiment
Which sociological research method is MOST likely to produce quantitative data that will identify cause-and-effect relationships?
the experiment
Comte described the earliest human societies as being at which stage of historical development?
theological stage
FALSE
T/F A variable that causes change in another variable is called the "dependent variable."
FALSE
T/F A variable that is changed by another variable is called the "independent variable."
FALSE
T/F According to sociologists, human behavior reflects our personal "free will."
TRUE
T/F Auguste Comte was a positivist who believed that there were laws of society in the same way that there are laws of physics that describe the operation of the natural world.
TRUE
T/F Durkheim documented that categories of people with weaker social ties have lower suicide rates.
TRUE
T/F Empirical evidence refers to what we can verify with our senses.
FALSE
T/F Participant observation is a research method by which researchers stand back from a setting, watch from a distance, and then carefully record the behavior of others.
TRUE
T/F Reliability refers to the quality of consistency in measurement.
FALSE
T/F Sociological research may be interesting, but it is of little use in shaping public policy, including legislation.
FALSE
T/F The focus of the symbolic-interaction approach is how society is divided by class, race, and gender.
FALSE
T/F The last of Comte's three stages is the metaphysical stage, in which people know the world in terms of God's will.
TRUE
T/F The sociological perspective helps us assess the truth of the "common sense" beliefs we tend to take for granted.
TRUE
T/F The structural-functional, social-conflict, and symbolic-interaction approaches are three basic theoretical approaches in sociology.
TRUE
T/F The symbolic-interaction approach is a micro-level orientation.
FALSE
T/F Using the sociological perspective, we would conclude that people's lives are mostly a result of what they decide to do.
TRUE
T/F Validity refers to actually measuring what you want to measure.
FALSE
T/F When two variables are statistically related, a cause-and-effect relationship exists.
FALSE
T/F The goal of the structural-functional approach is no so much to understand how society operates as it is to reduce social inequality.
Sarah is spending a summer living in another country where people have a way of life that differs from her own. A sociologist might expect that this experience would lead her to
end up with a greater understanding of both a new way of life and her own way of life.
Building social relationships and creating jobs are two of the ____ of sports.
latent functions
Unrecognized and unintended consequences of a social pattern are called
latent functions.
Using the symbolic-interaction approach, sports becomes
less a system than an ongoing process.
Sociologists use the term "social marginality" to refer to
people who are defined by others as an "outsider."
What term refers to the arithmetic average of a series of numbers?
the mean
What is the term for the value that occurs most often in a series of numbers?
the mode
Which theoretical approach was used by the early sociologists Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim?
the structural-functional approach
The ancient Romans saw the stars as being gods. Auguste Comte would classify Roman society as which of the following stages of history?
theological stage
If we state that children raised in single-parent families are at high risk of being single parents themselves, we have constructed a _____ of family life.
theory
A statement that explains how and why specific facts are related is called a
theory.
W.E.B. Du Bois described African Americans as having a "double consciousness" because
they are American citizens who have a second identity based on skin color.
Karl Marx, speaking for the social-conflict approach, argued that the point of studying society should be
to bring about greater social justice.
The major goal of Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim was to develop sociology
to discover how society actually operates.
The chapter's sociological analysis of childbearing around the world suggests that the number of children born to a woman reflects
whether she lives in a poor or a rich society.
Identify the three sociologists who played a part in the development of sociology's structural-functional approach.
Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim
The concept "sociology" was coined in 1838 by
Auguste Comte.
Which of the following statements is based on a symbolic-interaction analysis of sports?
Each player understands the game a little differently.
The pioneering sociologist who studied patterns of suicide in Europe was
Emile Durkheim.
With regard to the process of measurement, which of the following statements is true?
For a measurement to be valid, it must be reliable.
Which of the following is true about positivist sociology?
It favors quantitative data.
Which of the following is an accurate criticism of the structural-functional approach?
It ignores inequality that can generate tension and conflict.
Which of the following is true about cause-and-effect relationships in the social world?
Most patterns of behavior are caused by many factors.
_____ is a way of understanding the world based on science.
Positivism
TRUE
T/F A false correlation between two variables caused by a third factor is described as a "spurious" correlation.
What might a sociologist say about people's selection of marriage partners?
Typically, a person marries someone of similar social position.
Using the structural-functional approach, which of the following questions might you ask about marriage?
What are the consequences of marriage for the operation of society?
According to Emile Durkheim, people with a higher suicide rate typically have
a lower level of social integration.
Which research method asks subjects to respond to a series of items on a questionnaire or in an interview?
a survey
Imagine that you were going to measure the age of a number of respondents taking part in a survey. As you record the data, you are using the concept "age" as
a variable.
Which of the following statements BEST illustrates the career advantage a person gains by studying sociology?
a. A RESEARCHER DISCOVERS A NEW AND EFFECTIVE VACCINE b. A person in retail sales knows how to exceed the monthly sales target. c. A police officer understands which categories of people are at high risk of becoming crime victims. d. A financial services worker devises a new type of hedge fund.
Unlike simple stereotypes, sociological generalizations
a. are not applied to all individuals in a category. b. are based on all available facts. c. are offered fair-mindedly with an interest in the truth. d. ALL OF THESE RESPONSES ARE CORRECT
Learning more sociology can help you to do all of the following EXCEPT
a. assess the truth of "common sense" b. assess the opportunities and constraints in our lives c. be more active participants in society d. SEE HOW INDIVIDUALS GUIDE THEIR OWN LIVES THROUGH "FREE WILL"
Examples of people applying their knowledge of sociology at work include people in
a. law enforcement, understanding which categories of people are at high risk of becoming victims of crime. b. medicine, understanding patterns of health in a community. c. business, dealing with different categories of people. d. ALL OF THESE RESPONSES ARE CORRECT
Which of the following BEST describes the focus of the structural-functional approach?
a. the meaning people attach to their behavior b. patterns of social inequality c. THE CONSEQUENCES OF SOCIAL PATTERNS FOR THE OPERATION OF SOCIETY d. ways in which each person differs from all others
Following the thinking of C. Wright Mills, we would expect the sociological imagination to be more widespread in a population
among the very rich.
The social-conflict approach sometimes receives criticism for
being openly political.
Making use of the sociological perspective encourages
challenging commonly held beliefs.
If marginality encourages sociological thinking, we would expect people in which category listed below to make the most use of the sociological perspective?
disabled persons or people who are a racial minority
If you have been criticized for "androcentricity" in your research, you are being criticized for
doing the research from a male perspective.
Interpretive sociology is sociology that
focuses on the meaning people attach to behavior.
To evaluate a theory using evidence, sociologists
gather data or facts.
Sociology differs from the older discipline of philosophy by focusing on
how society actually operates.
Which of the following would be the focus of a social-conflict analysis of sports?
how sports reflect social inequality
"A statement of a possible relationship between two or more variables" is the definition of which concept?
hypothesis
A criticism of the symbolic-interaction approach is that it
ignores the influence of factors such as culture, class, gender, and race.
Which of the following is the BEST example of a latent function of going to college?
keeping young people out of the labor force, which may not have jobs for them
A researcher doing participant observation may often "break in" to a setting more easily with the help of a
key informant.
Which of the following categories contains countries in which average income is typical for the world as a whole and in which people are as likely to live in a rural area as in an urban area?
middle-income nations
Which of the following is a criticism of the structural-functional approach?
not critical of inequalities based on social class, race, ethnicity, and gender
What process involves deciding exactly what is to be measured when assigning value to a variable?
operationalizing
Which of the following is a manifest function of sports?
providing recreation and physical conditioning
A small number of people that are used to represent a much larger population is called a
sample.
Which concept is used to describe relatively stable patterns of social behavior?
social structure
The "framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change" is the
social-conflict approach.
An apparent, although false, association between two variables that is caused by a third variable is called a _________ correlation.
spurious
Qualitative research has special appeal to investigators who favor the _________ approach.
symbolic-interaction
Which theoretical approach claims that it is not so much what people do that matters as much as what meaning they attach to their behavior?
symbolic-interaction approach
Which theoretical approach would highlight the fact that, on average, African American families have less income than white families?
the race-conflict approach
Which of the following historical changes is among the factors that stimulated the development of sociology as a discipline?
the rise of the industrial economy and growth of cities
The ideal of objectivity means that a researcher must
try to adopt a stance of personal neutrality toward the outcome of the research.
Which of the following examples illustrates a micro-level focus?
two people on an airplane getting to know one another
Which of the concepts listed below refers to measuring exactly what you intend to measure?
validity
In the process of measurement, reliability refers to
whether repeating the measurement yields consistent results.